Category: Rez Notes
T’was the morning after and all through the night, all creatures were stirring, dancing to fiddle music and laughing with delight. The party had ended and the old folks went home, content with the thought of knowing, that, yes, they can stay out all night, too. The sound of the ...
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Often I tend to look at life with a sarcastic twist, some would even say from a bizarre viewpoint, but life is not always what it looks to be, at face value or superficially. The model-thin women who prance the walkway often plead the cause of world peace as the ...
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One of the most dangerous seasons is approaching, dangerous for those who have dared to speak up on what lurks behind the annual Christmas office party. I haven’t really been party to the party or the ensuing cold-weather risks (from being booted out on to the cold and barren streets ...
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On one of my few forays out of the cold white north, I ventured down to seek out new life forms and technologies to bring back to my home town. I discovered some things look new, but are really the same old things packaged in flashy wrappings. I also discovered ...
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Someone once told me that all I do is complain, complain and complain about every little thing. That I tend to point out all the things that are wrong or that will go wrong. However, it seems to me that things that look wrong or are wrong are quite obvious. ...
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In times of the nano-second and plain times of the nano-second and platforms that don’t have anything to do with political speeches but rather, operating systems, we Cree seem to have adapted seamlessly into the technological world. E-mail this and e-mail that, naughty postcards and puzzles, digital this and that, ...
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What does that stand for? In America, it’s a military acronym for Commanding Officer. (Heavy drums rolling…) But up here, it means Conservation Officer (sounds of birds whistling and moose mating calls). They are muscular men, (and women too, who are invited to spend a stranded night in the woods ...
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A couple of the best things about summer is that the water is not hard enough to walk on and that the best star in the universe, the sun, is out in all its glory. This allows those without fear of melanoma and skin so sensitive that a cold shower ...
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I wandered into the smoke-filled bar and heard the familiar songs of Conway Twitty crooned out by the svelte voice of Gordon Poison, who was in town the other weekend. To my surprise, he immediately recognized me and incorporated my name in one of those famous megahit Country and Western ...
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I awoke this morning with a minor headache and a minor government. Let’s just hope that this doesn’t turn out to be a major headache for us. As for other misquoted minor politicians, who reportedly claimed, then later disclaimed, that we as Cree live in opulence. Sixty grand for a ...
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The digital readout kept on climbing and climbing and my excitement level rose to an all time high. The numbers rose past 100, 150, 195, and edged over the $200 mark. Hands shaking, I reached for my pocket, my adrenaline soaring. No, I wasn’t at the casino or in front ...
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The geese approached the small pond, and everything was silent. They swooped in gracefully and gave the complementary thankful honk, before landing on the calm water. Sound familiar? Yes, it’s Stanley Cup fever again and all sane hunters have abandoned their blinds in favour of rooting for the sun-drenched hockey ...
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The hypodermic syringe neared my skin and I anticipated its puncture. Oh… yes…, and the pain slipped away. No, I am not shooting up heroin or cocaine; it’s my doctor applying anesthesia to my swollen big toe. It has been a constant pain for the last year or so and ...
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On one of my rare forays to the south, I chanced to eat food that I didn’t have to cook for myself. This is a rare indulgence for me, and I thought of how our people enjoy the meals prepared for others, (not to mention not having to do the ...
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It’s that time of the year again, where towns seem to be emptied of the people who once made the community a thriving beehive of activity. The streets are strangely quiet and the local stores are only filled with the barely audible sounds of elevator music, as the cashiers limply ...
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Sometimes when you hear of repeated incidents of local yokels continuously breaking the law, you wonder, just what the heck do they have that ordinary citizens don’t have. Is it diplomatic immunity, or just the plain sense of not knowing that there are laws in this world? When so called ...
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I happened to fork over $21 for my entrance to a tourney in the Whap’ over the last weekend and witnessed just how violent the sport of hockey can be. As one team from Kangiqsujuaq (formerly Wakeham Bay) questioned the referee’s decision, the dispute turned nasty. First, the lights were ...
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As I was growing up, and learned the values of right and wrong, I often wondered what type of person I would be today, if I hadn’t been taught what was the difference between right and wrong. I know that for many parents today, the idea of restricting your child’s ...
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My hands soiled with grease and grime, I mutter things that could send me to hell into the next eternity. Why do machines have to break so easily? Oh the humanity! Why have we grown more dependent on machinery to take over nearly all aspects of the work we used ...
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I read in dismay the so-called journalistic reaction to the way we tend to absorb poutine by the ton and how many of us practice unhealthy ways, thus leading us down coronary alley which ends at the heart attack hotel. I kid you not, I felt guilty to be a ...
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The red rose that symbolizes many things, especially around St. Valentine’s day, seems to pop up more and more in the North. I suppose that this is good for those who are naturally romantic at heart, but for those who don’t think romantically, who would rather the red flower be ...
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I scraped the ice hoar off the window at 7:30 in the morning to squint at the thermometer and my eyes slowly widened with disbelief. The shock I received worked faster than the coffee I usually brew as I looked a little harder, trying to see the mercury. It had ...
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As I can see into the near future, sometime before February, I forecast that the winter will be cold and dreary and that for this year, it will be a leap year. However, I tend to think that looking back is a lot easier than trying to forecast anything, even ...
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I always wished that Santa Claus was a real person when I was a kid, and in many ways, I wish he was real today. Not that I really want to believe in Santa, but mainly so that he could take on the responsibilities of giving out those expensive gifts ...
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I was watching this TV show, which many people already have had their share of, namely America’s funniest home videos.
I laughed hysterically when the golf ball bounced back and nearly became the third one on the unlucky golfer. I nearly peed in my shorts when the entire choir collapsed with ...
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I saw something extraordinary happening at the James Bay Eeyou School in Chisasibi in the early 1980s. It was a sight that impressed me: Ernie Webb breakdancing like a pro and the circle of astounded students and adults alike crowded around the whirling dervish. I happened to be one of ...
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